Board: Proposal to term-limit Ohio justices is 2 issues

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Ballot Board says a proposed constitutional amendment to impose term limits on state Supreme Court justices and remove special legal protections provided to state lawmakers and their staffs would be two separate ballot issues.

The board certified the proposal as two issues Monday. That means backers would have to provide the attorney general with separate summaries for each of the two initiatives. If those are certified as “fair and truthful,” petitioners would have to collect valid signatures for each issue — nearly 306,000 signatures for each one.

Part of the proposal would preclude judges who served nine or more consecutive years on the court from being re-elected or appointed. Its second element would provide that all state laws apply equally to members and employees of the General Assembly.